Respiratory disorders and neonatal outcomes of triplet pregnancies – our ten year experience

Objective. To compare respiratory dis-orders (respiratory distress syndrome, requirement for respiratory support, de-velopment of chronic lung disease), dura-tion of hospitalization and other neonatal outcomes between newborns born from triplet pregnancies over a ten year period. Methods. A retrospective analysis of 34 triplet pregnancies delivered between 2006 and 2015 in one perinatal tertiary centre. Ninety-nine newborns from these preg-nancies were divided into 2 groups: one consisted of 56 neonates (19 sets of tri-plets) born between 2006 and 2011 and the second contained 43 neonates delivered from 15 triplet pregnancies between 2012 and 2015. 

Results. There were no differences in the incidence of respiratory distress syndrome and chronic lung disease between group I and group II. In both groups, a similar amount of patients required respiratory support. We did not notice any significant differences in the type of ventilation (me-chanical ventilation or nasal continuous positive airway pressure -nCPAP), dura-tion of ventilation, length of hospitaliza-tion or the incidence of complications of prematurity, such as 3rd or 4th grade intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) stage > 2, between both groups. 

Conclusion. Despite important progress in perinatal care and wide use of advanced technologies in neonatal intensive care there has been no significant improvement in neonatal outcomes of triplets during the past 10 years. Multiple pregnancies still re-main a risk factor for respiratory disorders and other neonatal complications in pre-maturely delivered newborns.

triplets, newborn, respiratory disorders, outcome

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